Sarah Jaffe is mother to one daughter. She began her career as an attorney for children in the foster care system, advocating for some of the most vulnerable children in our nation, but it was not until she became a mother, that she took real stock of, and became deeply troubled by, the stark differences between the lives of the children she met at work and the lives of the children she met in her parenting life. She began to question whether her only duty as a parent was to get “the best” for her own child or whether she had an obligation to make decisions that would help create a more equitable society for all children.

Her questions led her to write her first book, Wanting What’s Best: Parenting, Privilege, and Building a Just World. This book is the topic of this episode.